Newly minted House Majority Leader Bryan Cutler (R-Lancaster) pushed through a slew of rule changes on his first day as floor leader Jan. 1, the largest since the bipartisan rules reform commission just over a decade ago.

“If you’ve followed me in anyway, I tend to shoot big,” he said.

Among the changes include a revised policy on sexual harassment discipline for, a new committee with subpoena power over the executive branch, and a ban on so-called ghost amendments, a loophole which let members tack hundreds of amendments onto bills to effectively kill the legislation.

While hundreds of citizens gathered today in the rotunda, hosting signs with white knights slaying a dragon labeled “gerrymander” and chanting “this is what democracy looks like,” the object of their desires — politically independent redistricting — was poised to undergo some negotiations.

House State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) said Monday he expected to meet with his Senate counterpart Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon) that night to discuss the farthest-reaching and widest supported redistricting bills — HB 722 and SB 22.

One hundred and ten cosponsors weren’t enough to get an independent redistricting bill onto the House floor intact.

Half a day after Rep. Steve Samuelson (D-Northampton) announced a discharge resolution to kick his redistricting bill out of the House State Government Committee, Chairman Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and 14 other House Republicans voted to completely rewrite HB 722 via amendment.